“There is a lot of concern. This morning he came in, and he was very, very sore,” Rivera said. “We expect him to get past the soreness the next few days, and then be able to do a lot more as the days go.”

Rivera said he was confident Newton would be ready to go for the regular season opener, but that’s an immediate concern that overlooks the bigger issue.

The Panthers have a substandard offensive line. Left tackle Byron Bell and right guard Trai Turner were among a number of players missing Sunday, and they don’t know who the right tackle is. They have a brand new corps of wide receivers. Offensive coordinator Mike Shula is not, as they say, innovative.

Couple that with Newton — who clearly has been bothered by his ankle after offseason surgery — missing so much offseason time, and there are plenty of reasons to worry about the Panthers regressing.

At least he gets to come back with an elite O-line to protect his………… oh wait. Well, at least he gets to ease his return by handing it off to his great backs……. oh wait. Well, at least his elite WR’s will bail him out a little bit……. oh wait. Well…….. what’s the use? They have done Cam wrong. I wouldn’t be surprised if he leaves once his contract is up. They have failed to give that man anything.

lsuzilla says:Aug 24, 2014 5:07 PM

your NFC South champs…..the New Orleans Saints!

mrlaloosh says:Aug 24, 2014 5:07 PM

Keep Pounding? I don’t think so…..
Back to the bottom of the NFC South, where they belong.

bonnovi says:Aug 24, 2014 5:15 PM

I’m surprised that two starting QB’s have been injured and one of them isn’t EJ Manuel.

rhinojr says:Aug 24, 2014 5:20 PM

headed to last… no cap room continues to hamper them…plus, i still think Cam is overrated.

Meh. Didn’t play the last game last year either. He himself played pretty well last week, going 8-12. The media has a narrative they are going to push regardless of what actually happens because the Panthers didn’t do what the heads thought they should.

The 49ers, who did do as the media commanded, just scored their first preseason TD with the backups in, which has escaped the minds of media types because, by golly, they are the Niners.

Rumors of the Panther’s demise have been greatly overblown and I and any true football fan will enjoy the “experts” scrambling to explain how the Panthers haven’t plummeted to rock bottom because they didn’t do what the perpetually foolish media types said they should.

The O-line is solid everywhere except for LT. Ryan Kalil is a top 5 center. Trai Turner is an upgrade at RG. Nate Chandler will be better than Byron Bell at RT. Silatolu was looking great before he got hurt last year and should solidify the LG spot.

The WR corps is just as good if not better than last year. Kelvin Benjamin looks like a #1 WR and made a few contested catches over Darrelle Revis. Greg Olsen is a top 8 TE. Cotchery had 10 TDs last year and should be able to replace Lafell’s production. Hopefully, Philly Brown adds a speed element to this WR corps, replacing Ted Ginn.

The success of the offense comes down to Byron Bell and Jonathan Stewart. We just need Bell to be average and we need Stewart to stay healthy.

Cam was 4-9 for 65 yards against the Chiefs and 8-12 for 88 yards against the Patriots. Not great but not terrible either. Those are decent stats given that Cam is coming off ankle surgery and working with new WRs.

How’s Gettleman supposed to surround Cam with talent, when he’s going to have to pay him a $120m contract next season and Kuechly a $55m contract the following year.

Add to that he’s paying Stewart $4.5m this year, ***8.3m next year***, and $9.5m in 2016-17, which will be the first year it will cost less to cut him than to pay him.

He also has to determine if Hardy is worth big money (likely depending on how well Ealy comes along).

It’s not Gettleman’s fault that Hurney tied his hands with stupid contracts (beyond accepting the job in the first place).

I think he has done a masterful job of navigating the cap space hell that he took over. In ~5 years, we’ll get to see how his teams start to look when he’s responsible for the structure, and I honestly think they’ll be quite good. It’s a shame that Cam has to endure a year or two of subpar supporting casts while the cap numbers are straightened out, but he’s still pretty young and has some time.

ilovefoolsball says:Aug 25, 2014 4:04 AM

boy am I glad I dropped this guy as a keeper in my fantasy league. Dodged a bullet there.
Should’ve known that the Panthers would suck this year though considering they won the NFC South last year and that doesn’t happen two years in a row.
He had so much promise coming out of college. He was so dominant I thought he’d never get hurt but running quarterbacks rarely survive long.

Bucs fan here…would rather open the season and beat a team on Bucs own merits. But truth be told, CAR’s O line is struggling more than Bucs O line, if that’s possible. And the Bucs D front 7 are probably going to be top five this year…look out for Cam…could be ugly.

That said, I’d still rather play Cam Newton than Derek Anderson. The Bucs typically have done well against back-up QBs, and Anderson hasn’t started a game in 3 years or more.